================== Eldarin Calendar in Sindarin ===================
IC time is: Midnight About 1:51 AM
IC day is: Ormenel Heavens-day
IC date is: 18 Iavas Autumn
Moon phase: New HIDDEN
Earendil: Gil-Estel is not visible.
IC year is: Loa 4 o Yen 22, Nelandran o Endor TA 3028
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RL time: Mon Mar 10 08:37:23 2003
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Top of Mound
You are standing on top of the mound of Cerin Amroth. It is covered with fresh springlike grass and strewn with small white and yellow flowers. These are the niphredil and the star-shaped elanor, the flowers of Lorien which stay in bloom all year long. Beside the center tree stands a broad white ladder which leads high up into the branches of the tree.


The star-splattered midnight sky is partially obscured by high thin clouds that draw a grey and tattered veil over the high bowl of heaven. In the dim silvery light, the single mallorn that crowns Cerin Amroth stands like some ancient vast sentinal. Its leaves rustle faintly as an intermittent breeze stirs and fades and rises again. Long stems of grass, bleached pale by the darkness, ripple from the spreading branches of this one tree down the hill to the feet of the encircling forest. Among all this splendor of silence, and the enveloping peace that spreads from the center of Lothlorien even to its borders, there is one incongruous note.

"Ssssssss..... Thwack!" A voice, not loud, is followed by the popping up from the long grass of a small head, which in turn is followed by an enormous disgusted sigh. Clutching a bow tightly in one hand, Rhibi trudges (or wades? The grass is near as tall as he is.) over to the tree and squats down, patting on the ground with his free hand.


"Thwack!" the boy's word marks the exact moment that a boot emerges from the flet high above, fit to a white rung. An elleth climbs down, in no rush, and a bright peridot eye is cast below as she descends. "Something wrong, Iaurfer?" is Caelwen's idle query, tossed down from somewhere along the middle of the mallorn-trunk's stretched length.

Lost in thought, the newly appointed student dancer climbs the mound of Cerin Amroth as she hears a familiar voice. The green grass reaches her waist hiding most of her lilly white skirts, and as she was not being very careful, the rustle heralded her arrival. Upon rounding the top of the mound, Arinkalya spied the Dinlom Indiri as well as another small boy. Pale lips split in a warm smile as her blue gaze swept the young boy from top to bottom. "Mae govannen Indiri Caelwen, and to your young friend here." Her tone, warm and merry, bespoke her light hearted mood.


"I missed," comes the doleful reply. "I will never be as good as HER." Rhibi's seeking hand lands on something long and round and altogether non-grass-like and he pounces on it with a crow of triumph, standing at last and tilting his head back to peer up the tree. "What are you doing up there?" he asks, before Arinkalya's voice brings him around to stare at her suspiciously. Long moments go by in silence while he studies her, ending in a wary, "Mae govannen..."


"I'm going out to the river," Caelwen answers lightly, voice growing louder as she nears the forest floor. "And I wanted to see. Haven't you ever been up there? You can see all of the way to the end of Arda." Before she gets to the bottom, she flings herself backwards, away from the ladder, and lands silently in the grasses, half-crouching to absorb the shock of it ere straightening. She whirls, short skirt flaring out. "Mae govannen, Arinkalya!" Sparking eyes dance at Rhibi. "This my cousin, Iaurfer o nos Dinlom."


With a serious expression, not a single thought escaped to show upon her mien, Arinkalya dipped in a low graceful curtsy before the child. "Mae Govannen Bowman Laurfer, I am Arinkalya Student Dancer of the Glirdain, I am pleased to make your aquaintance." The spread white skirts pushed back the grass to reveal the green embroidery of leaf designs swirling up to the waist. Rising slowly she turns to Caelwen with a soft smile lilting upon her lips. "Mellon, I trust you have faired well in the past days?" walking, almost picking her way among the flowers, Arinkalya made it to the tree and perched precariously upon one of the lower rungs.


"I missed," repeats the boy, but a rather smug expression spreads across his face at the title 'bowman' and he gives over wariness. "Of course I've been up there," he says to Caelwen, the forced patience of the overburdened soul coloring his every word. The branches dip and sway in a gust of wind and he freezes, turning only his head with exaggerated slowness. "Shh! It might be an enormous monster!" His small bow is raised, the single arrow nocked and ready. And he creeps quietly away from the two women, hazel eyes scanning every shadow.


The darkness from the below the mound appears to shimmer slightly as a shadow begins to climb the mound towards the elves. The night begins to draw back as the spectre approaches, finally fleshing out the form of a tall raven haired edhel, striding up the grassy slope. Finally, as he reaches elves, the edhel brushes a long unruly strand of hair from his eyes and tucks it behind his ear. Revealed is wry grin and a raised black eyebrow. Lir turns his head slightly sideways as he approaches 'Enormous, perhaps. But hardly a monster. I do hope you are not referring to me, young one.'


Caelwen glowers at the creeping lad, brows lowered, and flings a few curls behind her shoulders ere turning her face (adorned with a somewhat kinder expression) to Arinkalya. "I've been fine," she answers. "Just out to get a bit more clay. I hope they have the same horse I had last time at the stable." A giggle colors her words, and she is grinning of a sudden. "And you?" But another form steals her attention, and her mirth-sparked eyes are left to rest upon Lir. "Mae govannen."


As the boy's back was turned to look for the 'monster', Arinkalya grinned at the youthful antics before she turned back toward Caelwen. Wheaten locks forced into curls this evening bounced a bit as she turned her head. "I am well as I get these days, " this said with a wry grin, "I am getting into my usual routine and all is going smoothly." As she was speaking another unfamiliar edhel climbs to the top of the mound. After he had finished speaking with Laurfer she nodded in his direction with a murmured "Mae Govannen."


"Nooo... well maybe." A grin flashes across Rhibi's smudged face as he straightens from his half-crouch. "You could have been a monster," he points out reasonably. "Before I saw you. And if you were, see, I was ready." He turns and half-skips, half-runs through the clinging grass back to Caelwen's side. "I would have shot it for you," he says seriously. "If it had been. Which horse? The one with the grey spot on its nose?"


"Why thank you," Caelwen's reply is impish, and slim potter's fingers work their way into Rhibi's tousled hair when he nears her. "And no... this is the all-white mare, except for the bits of brown in her tail. Do you want to come with me?"


Folding his arms, Lir approaches the females and returns the greeting. "Mae Govannen. I see we have a future Knight amongst us. Do we not? " With a smile, the guard bows his head slightly "I do not think we have met, I am Lir O Nos Raavindonserke, Knight-Veteran of the Order, member of the gweth mellyrn, cold wet and hungry servant of the Lord and Lady, who have allowed me the privilege of serving up a fir tree with nothing more than a blanket for the last 3 months.....at your service.


If she had thought to find Cerin Amroth deserted, Mia could not be more disappointed than now to approach and find the quiet hill fairly swarming with others. Yet whatever might have passed for disappointment on the maiden's face disappears quickly as she begins to clearly make out the figures in the distance. The voice of the youngest, however, marks his identity long before he is sighted, and her pace seems to become a tad more lively as she climbs the incline.

His is not, however, the only voice she hears, for the Veteran speaks and it is all the Mia can do to keep from laughing outright. But as she nears the group, she does voice her opinion in the matter. "Had I known you found your post so disagreeable, then I might have worked harder... and faster to see that you were reassigned. Perhaps you would care to have an assistant," she grins mischeviously, "And I can think of none better than your short friend, there." She nods to the boy, her smile growing wider as she lays her eyes on him for the first in a long time. "My, my, Rhibi... I do believe you have gotten taller since our paths last crossed! Too long has it been since you came to see me... I was beginning to think that you had forgotten me alltogether!" She pouts, but laughter is reflected in her eyes as she sighs heavily.


Looking up to the dark skies, a grin evident, she speaks of Laurfer, "Aye, with one as skilled as this child is, I will be able to rest easy knowing he is protecting the wood." Though her eyes sparked with mirthfullness, her voice was slow and seriouse. Soon she turned her eyes to the one who had spoken, standing Arinkalya smoothed her lilly white skirts with on hand while the other lays upon a rung to retain her balance from the hop down. "I am Arinkalya, Student Dancer of the Glirdain, edhel o Nos Aderthad." Her gaze open, yet distant once again scanned the top of the mound once more. Her gaze falls on the Commander as she approaches and sends a short bow in her direction, before letting her gaze resume it's course.


Rhibi draws himself proudly up to his full height. "I am going to be a knight. I am going to be just like..." his voice stops suddenly, mid-sentance and his head whips around. A wide smile spreads across his slightly grubby face, and an adoring light suffuses light hazel eyes. He edges a few steps closer to Mia, his face crumpling in the next minute. "I didn't!" he says anxiously. "I didn't forget you, and look!" Both hands are held up for inspection (they're clean) and he turns his face a little for her to see. It's /almost/ clean.


Caelwen sweeps an extravagant curtsy towards Lir, as if she were wearing fine skirts instead of sturdy dun potter's-clothes. "Indiri Caelwen o nos Dinlom," she offers as she arises. "And this one is my cousin Iaurfer. And he is going to be a Knight, methinks," she adds, voice only slightly glum. "And am I /ever/ glad to be in the Gwaith-I-Thein, at your tales, mellon."

"Rhibi /is/ good at it," she chuckles to Arinkalya. Her grin grows wider as Mia approaches.


Lir's face furrows as he struggles to place the familiar voice as it floats up the mound. Turning to the source of the comment, Lir's face reveals a 'I should have guessed' look. "Well met, Mia", he greets the Commander. "Indeed an assistant would be wonderful, someone to mould in my image. To follow my every order. A minion perhaps. " He glances quickly to the tree tops, "For we seem to have run out of flying monkeys"


Angolamath just pops his head over the crest of the hill, when he hears this. 'Flying monkeys?' He blinks, and suddenly considers going back to the city. It's safer there. Not so... odd.. and he knows it's roads, and pathes well.


The sinda elleth had wandered to where the mound curved downwards, and she stood there looking down. Her manner was thoughtful and somber now, for all her lighthearted comments earlier. A learner crested the mound, and Arinkalya speaks a soft, "Evening Angolamath," before she turns back toward the growing group of edhil. Standing at the edge of the crowd gathered, Arinkalya was content to listen to the murmur of voices.


Mia waves a hand at the Veteran, "Nor do we have the flying pigs, a great loss, but we simply couldn't keep them around with so many improbabilities coming to light." She holds out her hand to the boy an beams, "Like this, for example! Who would have ever thought that the dirt and grime actually came off? At one time, I might have said it would happen when pigs flew, but alas..." She sighs and steps closer to the boy, tousseling his hair fondly. "And there were many that thought my favor on this child was foolish, that he would never be more than a trouble-maker." She grins at him, then turns to Caelwen and winks, "I look forward to seeing who will be right in the end, though for some reason I feel fairly confident in my own judgement."

She has no real need to bend down to speak to Rhibi as her short stature is not too much taller than he. "I have been busy far too often, I suppose, though I do want you to know that I miss our time together. You are a joy, Rhibi." A sad tone creeps into her voice and her smile turns suddenly pensive. She seems not to hear or see anything around her for a few moments as she becomes swept up in her own private thoughts.


Whatever anyone else might be saying goes past Rhibi like leaves in an autumn gale. His smile becomes nearly incandescent as his idol ruffles a hand through his short brown hair. And greatly daring, he edges another half-step closer, clasping bow and arrow tightly to his chest.


Caelwen's white fingers trill in a wave to Angolamath, and Lir's words bring a shower of giggles to patter about the potter's toes. "Hmm. Well, he'll be all right in the end, methinks," she muses to Mia. "Just... I don't know." And her own gaze turns brooding, fixed upon the rapt boy. She backs up a bit, and sits with a dramatic flop at the base of the great tree.


Angolamath gives Arinkalya a sharp glance, apparently, he'd hoped to slip away, not get drawn into the activities here. When one hears talk of flying monkeys... and pigs, one starts to question the rationality of those involved, but he steps further upon the mound, and gives a slight bow to Kalya, "Mae govannen, Arinkalya." He lets his eyes sweep over the crowd, and catches the wave of the young Indiri. He smiles, and waves back, but stops outside of everyone else, not looking to draw attention, nor interfere.


Arching one brow at Angolamath's glance, Arinkalya affords him one calm stare before she turns her attention back toward the gathering. Moving so she does not interrupt any more then she has too, she speaks to the group. "I see this is a fond reunion of sorts, I will leave you in privacy." With a friendly smile toward Caelwen and Mia, she turns back to Laurfer again and once again attains her seriouse stance. With another low curtsy of almost exxagerated formality, Arinkalya speaks warmly, "Namarie young Laurfer, I would not worry about missing the tree, trees sometimes are troublesome targets." With a small wink to the child she turns to decend the mound and head back towards Caras Galadhon.


This though, the boy hears, even amid his abstraction. "I didn't miss the tree," he darts a hurried glance upward, fear that he be thought such a bad shot by HER widening his eyes and drawing the corners of his mouth tight. "I missed the warg that was underneath it. It jumped."


Mia seems to come back to the conversation after a long dream, pleasant but far away from the here and now. "Hm? Oh, trees, yes... ornery creatures who take a bit of offense to being shot at, though it doesn't hurt them as much as they say. I wouldn't worry too much over missing such a target." She glances at Lir, her eyebrow raised, "And, I would guess by what little of the conversation I heard in approaching, that this would be our warg? Let us, then, be thankful that he did jump, for I wouldn't want to bet on Rhibi's shot going astray. The boy has an eye..."

A grin cracks across her lips as she places her hands on her hips. "As for you, Veteran, perhaps his assumption of your beast-like appearance has a ring of truth in it... for I have never seen such a shaggy creature, I think. Months in the trees, you said? Funny, I might have said a good year, at least..." Not a hint of truth is in her tone, just good-natured ribbing for her sometime companion. "And I thought Rhibi was the epitome of filthy edhil." She says with a wide grin.


Lir tries to look dignified as he glances down at himself. Indeed he does look like he has been dragged backwards through a hedge, yet through the mud grime the Veteran lifts his head and folds his arms in mock defiance. " I have looked more presentable, I admit. " he retorts. "But we can't always prance about the forest looking beautiful, can we Mia ?' . With a slight toss of his raven mane, allowing a twig to break free from it, Lir darts her a curious glance. "And what has our illustrious Commander been up to? "


Angolamath blinks, and turns and walking away. He knows no elf here, and he thinks he'd rather find a private garden, and write his assignment, then begin introductions just now.


"I'm not," protests the boy in an aggrieved voice. "I'm clean! I even took a /bath/." The last word vibrates with a wealth of disgust as he surveys himself: mostly green tunic, brown leggings - the words are comparatively true. Compared to his normal mud-burdened, twig-infested state, he practically shines with cleanliness. There are only two smears of dirt across the snub-nosed, freckled face; and the color of his clothing can be easily told on first glance.


Mia shakes her head as she chuckles, 'Nothing so adventurous as what your days have been like, Lir. Illustrious? Hardly! You would not have said so had you seen me a day ago! A sight I was, and for once, I couldn't care less. While others have been busy working, I have been deep in meditation, trying hard to come to some sort of conclusion..." She shakes her head and sighs, "But there are no easy answers to the questions I have asked."

Suddenly, she chuckles though it is a half-hearted attempt. "Inquire instead, Lir, of something easier to reply to, for I do not know where to begin with my answer and, if the truth is known, I would rather not have my first forray into voicing this matter with you." She holds up a hand and smiles patiently at the edhel, "Nothing personal, I hope you understand."

She glances down at Rhibi and nods to him, her smile approving even as she sighs regretfully. "You are as handsome as any edhel, and far more interesting than most, mellon. I only wish that I could see you bridge the gap between childhood and becoming an adult." She pauses, her eyes widening slightly, but a hesitant smile appears and she quickly says, "For... with as little time as we both seem to have..."


Caelwen continues to hold her tongue, watching from her seat at the base of the tree. She draws her knees up, arms slipping about them, and shuttered peridot eyes slip from elf to elf to elf and back again.


Lir frowns slightly, well aware of all the nuances that Mia has in the past played with, yet this time the edhel checks himself and though still looking at Mia, addresses the child. "Do not be so eager in wanting to grow up, little one. For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. "


Caelwen's head drops a little at Lir's words, mouth hidden behind her knees now, and curls of night-auburned hair cascade about her tucked form. Her eyes now rest solely upon Rhibi.


Rhibi's face loses some of its liveliness into uncertainty as he catches the hesitation in Mia's voice. "Won't you.. " he begins but then, prompted by some unknown feeling, falls silent. Lir's words only deepen the confusion in his eyes; who would not want to grow up, and as fast as possible? Wide-eyed, fingers tightening on the precious bow, he stares up at the adults and listens.


Mia hears his half-asked question and bends down to place a light kiss on the boy's forehead. "Any assurances I could give you may make me a liar in the end, for who can say with certainty where any of us will be in a year, or ten, or a hundred? No, I will not lie to you and give you false hope. I respect you and care for you too much to do that."

Now she does crouch down, putting her now below his eye-level so that she looks up to him slightly. "Let me, instead, tell you what I can and make a promise to you that I will find much easier to keep. Though I may not always be where you can see me, I will always be here." She taps him lightly on his chest, and then again on his forehead, "And here. No bond connects us in a familial sense, yet there is one there, regardless. I treause that bond, Rhibi, as I treasure your friendship. It makes me feel safer and more at peace to know something so clearly."


Lir shifts his weight slightly to his opposite foot, his face now shares almost the same expressions as the child's. Darting a glance to Caelwen and back to Mia, the Veteran grows increasingly uneasy.


An intent hazel gaze follows Mia down. The small head nods slowly in response to her words, but fear and confusion grow in Rhibi's eyes. "D-don't," he stammers, but cannot find more words, instead flinging his bow to one side on the cushioning grass and throwing himself into her arms.


And Caelwen is to her feet, body uncoiling in a single fluid motion that turns to walking before she is even all of the way standing. She stops, a step away, and touches the back of Rhibi's head with her fingertips. An uncertain glance is turned to Lir.


Mia's arms are suddenly filled with the child, and it takes all of her control to keep his pain from becoming her own. "No matter where my travels might take me, you will always be with me, Rhibi. But you are worrying over nothing, for I am here now." She holds him for a few moments, letting her hand gently stroke his hair. A tear slips down her cheek, and she pulls herself from him just slightly. "See what has happened? Now I am as upset as you, and for what? Life is too full of saddness to add to it so willingly! Let us make a happy thought, one that will make us smile no matter what!"

She sits back on her heels and looks to Lir and Caelwen, her knowing glance telling more than she has hinted at all this time. A tight-lipped smile is passed to the pair and a look of concern then moves to the child. But she doesn't speak, instead shaking her head as she cannot for the life of her think of what to say to him next.


For a short while, thin arms wrap themselves tightly around Mia's neck. Then she puts him back and he stares at her, lip quivering. "I.. I will try," he says bravely, before a tear to match hers trembles on his eyelashes, glimmering in the faint starlight. A second one follows it and the boy whirls around to bury his face in Caelwen's stomach.


Caelwen just meets Mia's gaze, her own eyes widening, when Rhibi turns to her. An arm goes around his shoulders, the other hand brushing through his hair, whisper-soft. Her head bows, hair curtaining about the elleth and her young kin, but she says naught.


With a glance towards Mia, the Veteran gives her a worried look. "Alas that I have been away for so long. It would seem there has been more than just the changing of the seasons in the golden forest. " A hardened look crosses the guards face and he says under his breath, almost unaudible "As though the golden glow of the mallyrn has faded somewhat. "


It is not so very long before Rhibi pushes himself away and wriggles out of Caelwen's embrace. One fist knuckles at his eyes and he sniffs mightily, but then the hand falls and the boy squares his shoulders. "You won't go away forever, will you," he asks anxiously, his eyes seeking for Mia's. The great mallorn behind them sways a little, its leaves rustling in the cool night breeze, and high above, thin clouds pick up speed, racing across the sky.


Mia shakes her head, "No less golden than last year at this time, though perhaps it is seeing it through the eyes of maturity that makes them seem more so? The wonder is gone, the child now fully grown." She chuckles as she muses to herself, mostly, then looks to the Veteran with some difficulty. "You must know much of what I have gone through, as it is as much a part of your story as it is mine. What answers lie out there waiting for us while our questions are horded as a squirrel stores food for the winter? How much more time must I spend wondering?" She shakes her head, her shoulders drooping slightly. "And what a fool I am to do this to you all. If I really wished not to speak of it, then I never should have shown my face here... I knew secretly that the decision would be wrestled from me by my own conscience long before I set foot in Cerin Amroth, and I secretly wished for it to be so." She looks to both Lir and Caelwen, then to Rhibi. Her hands in her lap, she sighs and lets her head fall forward a bit. "Do not mourn, for I do not tell you that I wish to see the sea on this day. But I must have answers about myself, and I know that those answers are not in Lothlorien. Did I say that I had spent time in meditation? That is both true and false, for I sought answers from Yavanna through prayer and reverence for many days. Only near the end did I find what I wanted, or rather what I was meant to find."

She looks to Rhibi and smiles, holding her arms out for him. "No, I will not go forever, but it is time that I go for awhile. I wish more than you know that I could take you with me, for my road will be long and I could use laughter and a good friend with me."


Leaning forward slightly, Lir clears his throat with a cough "You should be careful what you wish for, Mia, lest you get it. " Turning his eyes to the heavens, Lir says mimes the words 'Why have you cursed me so ?' A sigh follows, yet it is tinged with a smile as he lowers his head again to face the Commander. ' Tell me, Mia. Where will you search for your nuts now, or aren't you the kind of squirrel that tells ? '


Rhibi takes a step forwards, and then another, and then he is once again within the circle of Mia's arms. His arms curl to slide around her neck, but not so desperately as before. "I could come with you!" he says eagerly, pulling his head back a little. "I could help you, I would be very good!" He throws a brief glance at Lir, then goes back to his main preoccupation. "I would be! And I can be quiet and hunt - some - and ... and.." His forehead wrinkles as he searches for more virtues to convince her with.


Mia chuckles, her humor, apparently, not gone... merely waiting patiently. She takes the boy in her arms while she speaks, first, to the Veteran. "What I wish for, Lir, is simply this: to know from whence I came. I am satisfied and happy with who I have become. Indeed, why should I not be? I feel there is nothing lacking in my self, and I have all of the love and sense of belonging as any elleth who walks beneath the boughs of the mellyrn. But there is much that I wish to know, things that I must find out for my own benefit. In the time I spent seeking the answers, I leanred much. The first thing I learned is that what I seek may not be what I find. I look for a family, yet I cannot fool myself into believing they are there. The second is not to ignore the details. I will head for Amon Thranduil, as I was found between Lorien and that elven stronghold. After that, though, I don't kow where my path will lead."

She looks at Rhibi and smiles. "Nothing would make me happier, yet I fear that my ood-fortune would be another's grief and sorrow. What would your parents say, and your Aunt for that matter? Would they not miss you more terribly than I?" She shakes her head and sighs, regretfully breaking the boy's heart and her own in the process. "I cannot hurt one that I care for so deeply, and you would suffer worst of all. But of visits, there will be many. I promise."


"They wouldn't mind," Rhibi assures her quickly. "Honest, they wouldn't."


"But I would /miss/ you if you were gone," comes a small voice behind Rhibi, and up darts Caelwen's eyes to Mia. "And I would miss you as well." But back flash that gaze to the boy. "/Yes/ they would," she asserts. "We love you and we like you near."


"The road to Amon Thranduil, though I know you have travelled it well, Mia, is frought with danger." comments Lir in a low voice so as not to alarm the child. " Much movement has been reported from the gates of Moria. I feel it would be advisable not to travel alone. " he adds, knitting his brow."


Rhibi twists around. "But I would come back to visit," he assures Caelwen confidently. "Besides you don't really want me around a lot, you are always scolding me." No matter how softly Lir speaks, sharp childish ears catch the words. "See? Mia needs me. He said so."


"I do too want you around," is Caelwen's swift and guilty reply, a bit sulky as well. "I just /need/ to scold you a bit, Rhibi. I'm your Indiri and cousin. It doesn't mean I don't want you around at all..."


"He speaks the truth," Mia says softly, "As do you. Yes, I do need you, but I need you to be safe and happy and healthy, and so you will be here. Time goes by faster than you could ever imagine, and what seems like a vast chasm of time stretching you now will appear to be no more than a handsbreadth wide when you look back at it."


She looks to Lir, then, and with a nod replies, "Aye, I was hoping to speak to Celeborn about it, but whether a group will be traveling my way or not, it is a journey I must begin. Dangers there may be, but nothing more than what I have faced in the past. Should I go with courage and determination, then I shall reach a dignified and just end no matter what it may be."


"I wish you the best of luck and safety," Caelwen offers to Mia, shy glances cast to the elleth once or twice or thrice. Yet she kneels beside her young kinsman, and a flurry of whispers are exchanged between the pair, with Rhibi shaking his head and glaring murderously at her as the talk. Yet after a moment or two, a bow is gathered up, farewells are given, and the two are departed.